After three months, Gallatin County gets its third commissioner

Gallatin County is getting a third commissioner again after having only two since February.

Ryan Finn, a code enforcement officer with the Belgrade Police Department, was announced Tuesday morning as temporary commissioner at a public meeting.

Finn has been given 180 days of leave from his current position and will start working as a commissioner on July 1. He and his family live in Belgrade and he’s worked as a pretrial services officer for Gallatin County, a detention officer for the Park County Sheriff’s Office, and a firefighter with the Bridger County Volunteer Fire Department, among other roles.

Finn, who was honored as Civilian Staff Member of the Year for the Belgrade Police Department in February, is taking over the District 3 position vacated by Scott McFarlane.

As soon as he’s officially a commissioner, he said he will begin a write-in campaign to become a fully elected official in November. Commissioner Zach Brown will be running for re-election as well.

“I’m very happy and grateful that I’ll be able to serve Gallatin County at a higher level than I am right now,” Finn told the Chronicle.

Current commissioners Brown and Jennifer Boyer chose Finn from between three people two weeks ago. They decided that one potential commissioner was unqualified and the other they hadn’t heard from so they assumed the person wasn’t the right fit.

Brown said Finn has “just a lot of public service and local government experience,” that made him an intriguing candidate.

“I’m just excited and thankful that we’ll have a third partner,” Boyer said.

“I look forward to working with you,” Brown told Finn.